


What Voltron Owes Imperialism

by wicoppi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Essay, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Good Talk Salt Wife, Meta, Meta Essay, Post-Season/Series 05, information, reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-10-02 12:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17264105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wicoppi/pseuds/wicoppi
Summary: VLD meta analysis on Lotor, the Galra Empire, the Altean Empire, and Allura. Written post-season 5.





	What Voltron Owes Imperialism

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to tumblr in response to another post, blockquoted at the beginning here. A special thank you to akaiikowrites for doing the leg-work for me on Japanese history.

> Lotor is coded as half white/half POC with his white side being the side of his abusers and treated as being less than for being half POC (Altean) so,

Nevermind Lotor is proud of who he is. Nevermind Lotor is proud to be of Altean and Galra descent. Nevermind that you just slandered half of Lotor's heritage in the name of defending him. Stripping his character down, stripping mixed race down, to a single sentence in the name of hate and uwu/woke points. Yes, Lotor is a survivor of abuse and wears that openly. But. Lotor is proud to be of Altean AND Galra descent. Proud of BOTH sides of his heritage. Washing over that and boiling his abuse down to a single sentence is a disservice to a phenomenal, nuanced character. But nevermind any of that. Let's talk about:

#### What Voltron Owes Imperialism

or

#### Why Fandom is Missing the Point

Lotor being coded as half POC / half white may be completely on the money, but to say the Galra Empire is white coded is wildly inaccurate when we look at real life empires across history. Empire is not exclusively white. Empire does not know age, does not know gender, does not know race. 

Sci-Fi owes a great deal to European (white) imperialism but for this fandom it is important to remember Voltron originally came out of Japan. A country that has also parented deeply imperialistic ideologies and committed grave atrocities in pursuit of that imperialism. It is important to remember BOTH SIDES of Lotor's heritage because, like all mixed race people, he pulls from more than one culture. But above all, **_IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER EMPIRE IS NOT THE ANSWER._** Imperialism is bad no matter what form it takes.

##### The Galra as Imperial Japan-

Altea and the Galra both hold imperialistic views that closely mirror real world historical justifications for imperialism, but the Galra are not white coded. The Galra Empire holds more in common with Imperial Japan's doctrine than with European empires in terms of structure, conquest, and internal justification. 

Looking at their structure, the Galra work on a class system. We have to assume there are at least a few classes given the complexity of such things, but we have only been shown a serving class and a warrior class, the latter being of the utmost importance and seemingly occupied by most of their citizens. We'e only met 2 named non-warrior Galra across this war; and we likely were only shown the serving class to demonstrate that Zarkon has always been elitist. 

Like Imperial Japan, the Galra have a very rigid, militaristic internal hierarchy based on strength and blood, in that order, but always together. They elect their emperor based on valour and fighting prowess. They rise through the ranks based on how successful they are in battle, through honorable rite of combat. 

And following this ideology, Galra conquer because they are the strongest. Because others are weak and if a species is not strong enough to defend their people and their land then they deserve to be conquered and used for the glory of the Galra Empire. And the Galra consider their blood to be the source of that strength. The strongest are strong because they are pure and it is in their veins. 

But then we see that ideology tweaked as the Galra expand and spread. We see people like Shiro, who meet their criteria for strength without blood to bolster their claim, who have admirable fighting prowess. So Shiro becomes elevated; they call him Champion and brand him theirs by outfitting him with a piece of their culture, their technology. Because it is not enough for Shiro to be strong; he must be strong in the way they are: as a Galra. 

We see this again with mixed race Galra citizens like Lotor and his generals who have Galra blood and therefore are strong enough to be a part of their ranks, but they are still considered 'less than' because their blood is impure- ideology that was so deeply ingrained in Imperial Japan. This intense stratification in the Galra is perfectly illustrated when we are first introduced to Lotor:

> "And not Prince Lotor is taking over? We've fought by Zarkon's side forever, and now we're passed over by this exiled brat. Worse than that, his top generals aren't even pure Galra. They are half-breeds at best. He has no honor." -Throk, 03.01

The Galra also match Japan in terms of conquest. Colonization is achieved by sending merchants, missionaries, and families to new territories to occupy the upper class and maintain hold on new land. But we learn Zarkon was not interested in this when Lotor recounts how he worked alongside the native inhabitants of his conquered planet. Zarkon was not out to colonize but to conquer. Like Imperial Japan, he sent soldiers and they conquered like locusts. They came in, stripped the area of resources, and put the appropriate fear into the local population.

Like Imperial Japan, they preyed on the weak because they were strong. But a large part of why Japan was never conquered isn't because of their tremendous fighting prowess. It's because other imperialists, white imperialists, came to their lands, saw similar ideologies being practiced and sought alliance instead of subjection. And Japan eagerly accepted alliance, not out of fear, but because they sought to enhance their wealth through knowledge and technology. Sound familiar? If you've paid any attention to the early relationship of Alfor and Zarkon it should.

> "Endlessly powerful ships for the Galra Empire." -Zarkon, to Alfor about his quintessence findings, 03.07  
>  "Alfor, they're amazing! How do they work?" -Zarkon, to Alfor upon seeing the Lions, 03.07  
>  "This power, it's unbelievable." -Zarkon, after Voltron is first formed, 03.07  
>  "Your ships are the most powerful machines ever created." -Zarkon, to Alfor when they argue, 03.07

##### Why Galra and Alteans got along-

Earmarking Zarkon as Lotor's white oppressor is an easy and thoughtless conclusion. Something fans like to jump to because the Galra Empire has been winning for thousands of years. Altea is not the oppressed POC wiped out by the evil white coded Galra. Altea is the white coded European imperialists overthrown by the POC coded Galra imperialists. It's important to look at the other original Voltron paladins to understand this. 

In VLD's narrative, it is clear Alfor and Zarkon lead the alliance of their planetary system, the "formal agreement to work alongside each other." Looking at the visual composition as Coran recounts that agreement in 03.07 _"The Legend Begins"_ on one side, we've got Zarkon, with Gyrgen and Trigel, and on the other we have Alfor backed by Blaytz. Instead of showing 5 individuals coming together on equal ground, we are shown Zarkon and Alfor shaking hands while the others stand by. This implies that both Zarkon and Alfor had been working with other planets, shoring up allies and additional resources, to protect and expand their culture. Perhaps they were doing so in a peaceful way, but perhaps not. (Coran's line "in some cases, had been warring for generations" is overlayed with Blaytz battling Galra sentries.) 

We have this story of five warriors coming together to form an unlikely bond, but it's interesting that we never hear anything about the other three paladins or their cultures, no mention of how they may have influenced Altea or Diabazaal. Just a clip of Alfor visiting one of their planets. We don't even know if any of the other 3 paladins' people survived the mass genocides that was Zarkon and Alfor warring with one another. The implication in all of this is that Zarkon nor Alfor were interested in adopting or preserving others cultures but rather sought to spread their 'superior' way of life.

##### Altea as Imperial Europeans-

Everything about Altea's practice and ideology points to a very imperial European (white) concept of Believed Moral Superiority. Their decisions are very paternalistic, holier than thou, and centered on the idea that they are thinkers who only need others, like the Galra and Blaytz, for brawn.

Allura and Coran set Alfor up as this great peacemaker, a very European justification with promises of prosperity that is never delivered. Alteans built a giant near-indestructible magical war machine and labeled it 'Defender of the Universe.' They had castle ships which they used to maintain their lifestyle and culture during prolonged visits to other planets. Alteans were regularly making off-planet visits to Weblums and Balmera to collect resources for their technology. And ages before Alfor's alliance with the Galra, Alteans ventured far enough into space to discover a mystical, magical place of secrets and wisdom which only a select few from their race were bidden knowledge of and access to. 

All of this adds up to the fact that Alteans have been conquering in the name of exploration for some time. Alteans operate under the guise of spreading peace and knowledge but that only lasts as long as their leader has pure intentions. When a leader becomes corrupted or a new one takes their place, what happens? Oh wait, we saw that in 03.04 _Hole in the Sky_ with Empress Allura. 

This alternate reality furthered the story line in so many ways, but for this let's focus on how it helped our understanding of Allura. There, she was known as Empress Allura where she "put down the Galra uprising and established the Altea Empire 10,000 years ago... Without [her] will to fight and avenger the loss of [her] father, Altea would not have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe." An imperial justification rampant throughout European empires. And Princess Allura lights up at this description of herself and her people. 

The show even goes as far as to parallel 'the Altean peace movement' with slave labor, a strong call back to European justifications for empire in response to viewing other worlds as savage and in need of control and/or redemption. In that reality, Allura established the Altean Empire for peace and justice but also for vengeance. She spread that empire because she believed Alteans know peace and prosperity and she wanted to bring their 'good fortune' to others. Maybe in her lifetime she was good to her newly conquered subjects. Maybe she had their best interests at heart. Maybe, like Lotor, she had high ideals. But the fact is Allura built an empire and ten thousand years later her legacy is not peace but slavery. 

Back in this reality, Altea is just a more palatable version of European imperialism because it is an empire that was snuffed out before it could grow into something irretrievably evil. But it was still an empire, on in which Allura believes.

##### The Point is Empire in any form is Not Good-

Empire must justify itself. Empire is not good. Imperialism is not good. Any of it. 

The point is that Allura needs to wake up and smell the damn coffee known as freedom. 

Altea is a call to European imperialist ideology and Allura strongly identifies with this because she was born into it and has believed in it her entire life. The point is that Allura must unlearn her prejudices, unlearn her flawed ideology, and look beyond Altea if she truly wants peace for the universe. Seasons 1 and 2 were about her learning to recognize imperialism. Seasons 3 and 4 demonstrate that she is able to see past it for the greater good. But we have yet to hit the beat where Allura clearly identifies what is bad about her beliefs, about Altea. Allura is not a fickle character rewritten every other season to suit the needs of the plot. Imperialism is something deeply ingrained in her and it will take more than a few heart-to-hearts and minor epiphanies to change that.

##### Enter Lotor-

Maybe the worst part of all of this isn't just the glorification of Altea as something it never was, but holding Lotor up as an oppressed baby suffering under colonization. Yes, he has suffered under imperialism, but Lotor is also entirely on board with CONTINUING THIS EMPIRE'S IMPERIALISM! (just maybe a little nicer.. maybe). Hint: If you still want to on people and their lands for the sake of owning them, it's imperialism. Even if you don't strip them of their resources and commit casual genocide. It's still. NOT. GOOD. 

Lotor is whole heartedly owning the Galra Empire. He is not trying to repay the grievances committed against others by his people. He has not talked of plans to improve the lives of his current conquered subjects. He has not concerned himself with quelling the rebellion against the Galra Empire, his empire. (Side note: a lot of rebels are also coded as mixed race.) 

Lotor has almost exclusively shown interest in making allies who can bolster his status and gain him access to new resources. He talks of improving the lives of his citizens, Galra citizens. He talks of allowing non-Galra citizens who are strong, who are worthy, to join their ranks. But only if they are strong enough. 

Fans get upset that Allura is twisted into a naive character to suit the needs of the plot, but that is not what's happening. Allura has saddled herself alongside Lotor because Lotor is speaking to her in terms of her ideology. Altean ideology. Altea's way of empire. They are both imperialistic as fuck. Lotor talks of improving upon what his father built, but it is still an empire. And Allura buys into it because Lotor is using her terms of empire. An empire that preaches exploration and peace where WE ARE ALL SAFE AND WARM. 

Allura habours deeply imperialistic views and prejudices. But through the seasons we have seen her slowly chipping away at that mindset, but she is still holding on to an idealistic view of Altea. An Altea that mirrors European empire on multiple levels. 

A large part of what makes Allura a compelling character is that her coding opposes itself. She comes from a culture built on a foundation of white European imperialist ideology but she knows the struggles of a POC at the hands of the jGalra Empire. We are seeing her slowly understand that Altea's imperialist way of thinking is not going to end well. She needs to change her ways, her beliefs, if she truly wants the universe to be free and prosper. 

Pissed at me for calling out our beautiful ebony princess as white coded? Consider how we as a fandom would interpret Altea and Allura if everything was the same in VLD canon but Allura was still a white skinned, blonde haired, blue eyed woman as she is in earlier incarnations. Same behavior. Same character. Same history. Same descriptions. But Allura was white. How would you feel about Altea then?


End file.
